DIONYSUS, PAN, ECHO, AND NARCISSUS 301
she might have been able to catch the nymphs lying on the mountain with her
Jove, Echo knowingly detained the goddess by talking at length until the nymphs
could run away. When Juno realized the truth, she exclaimed: "The power of
that tongue of yours, by which I have been tricked, will be limited; and most
brief will be the use of your voice." She made good her threats; Echo only gives
back the words she has heard and repeats the final phrases of utterances.
And so she saw Narcissus wandering through the secluded countryside and
burned with passion; she followed his footsteps furtively, and the closer she pur-
sued him, the nearer was the fire that consumed her, just like the tops of torches,
smeared with sulphur, that catch fire and blaze up when a flame is brought near.
O how often she wanted to approach him with blandishments and tender ap-
peals! Her very nature made this impossible, for she was not allowed to speak
first. But she was prepared to wait for his utterances and to echo them with her
own words—this she could do.
By chance the boy became separated from his faithful band of companions
and he cried out: "Is there anyone there?" Echo replied "There!" He was dumb-
founded and glanced about in all directions; then he shouted at full voice:
"Come!" She called back to him with the same word. He looked around but saw
no one approaching; "Why do you run away from me?" he asked. She echoed
his words just as he spoke them. He was persistent, beguiled by the reflection
of the other's voice, and exclaimed: "Come here and let us get together!" Echo
replied, "Let us get together," and never would she answer any other sound
more willingly. She emerged from the woods, making good her very words and
rushed to throw her arms about the neck of her beloved. But he fled and in his
flight exclaimed, "Take your hands off me; I would die before I let you possess
me." She replied with only the last words "Possess me."
Thus spurned, Echo hid herself in the woods where the trees hid her blushes;
and from that time on she has lived in solitary caves. Nevertheless, her love clung
fast and grew with the pain of rejection. Wakeful cares wasted away her wretched
body, her skin became emaciated, and the bloom and vigor of her whole being
slipped away on the air. Her voice and her bones were all that was left. Then only
her voice remained; her bones, they say, were turned into stone. From that time
on, she has remained hidden in the woods; she is never seen on the mountains,
but she is heard by everyone. The sound of her echo is all of her that still lives.
Narcissus had played with her so, just as he had previously rejected other
nymphs sprung from the waves or the mountains, and as well males who had
approached him. Thereupon one of those scorned raised up his hands to the
heavens and cried: "So may he himself fall in love, so may he not be able to pos-
sess his beloved!" The prayer was a just one, and Nemesis heard it.
There was a spring, its clear waters glistening like silver, untouched by
shepherds, mountain goats, and other animals, and undisturbed by birds, wild
beasts, and falling tree branches. Grass grew round about, nourished by the wa-
ter nearby, and the woods protected the spot from the heat of the sun. Here the
boy lay down, tired out by the heat and his quest for game and attracted by the
pool and the beauty of the place. While he was trying to quench his thirst, it
kept coming back again and again, and as he continued to drink, he was capti-
vated by the reflection of the beauty that he saw.
